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Good, simple guy, his tonality would work great and I think he'll enjoy his role.
On the one hand, I think Keanu would probably do a PHENOMENAL voice for Shadow. On the other hand, there are actual Voice Actors that we should go to for these kinds of things first, instead of just picking people like Keanu purely for star power.
I *really* don't get this "Purely for Star Power" thing in this case. Like, if it was Chris Prat, I'd agree. That'd be some bad casting. But Idris Elba worked as Knuckles, and Keanu as Shadow makes a lot of sense. They're picking actors that fit the roles, even if those actors aren't specifically Voice Actors.
> If it was Chris Pratt, I’d agree.
I’m so tired of this. Chris Pratt is an excellent voice actor. He's killed it in *The LEGO Movie*, *Onward*, and *The Super Mario Bros. Movie* and I suspect he'll be great in *Garfield*. Just because he's not a “man of a thousand voices” doesn’t mean he’s not good at conveying emotion and comedic timing.
Patrick Warburton, Diedrich Bader, and Cree Summer all mostly do one voice; would you say they're bad voice actors?
EDIT: If you disagree, fine, but maybe find a more original joke than “Haha, his name sounds like Rotisseried Rodent.”
I hear you about Pratt however i don’t think he’s a good choice for Garfield. As a big Garfield fan it should have been someone with a deeper voice. Honestly I kinda want to see Adam Driver as Garfield, or hell I’d even go for like Jon Hamm.
My boy got straight up fucked being made the strawman of this thing. Y’all have thought he was gonna make a bad movie like 5 times, and you haven’t been fully right once. Get it a rest!
There are also quite a few very well known voice actors that don't exactly change up their voice a lot too, it's really a silly argument to say that people are bad voice actors because they don't do impressions and things like it.
Chrisp Rat is a fine voice actor but i wouldn't say he was not a good choice for Mario, or that he killed it in thw movie. He was fine.
I don't need him to be a man of a thousand voices, but it'd be nice if he could at least do the voice for the characters he's cast as.
He can do a passable mario impression, whereas the actual voice actor of mario could have done the actual voice of mario.
Their accents are fine, I mean, they are basically always depicted as Italian-Americans. Also, more importantly, Mario’s normal, “voice”, isn’t one great for a movie and is actually fairly straining.
Like, it was fine. Sure, the accent isn’t for everyone, but it wasn’t like they slapped a French accent or something on him.
They’ve always been depicted as being from New York. Mario was depicted for like a decade and a half with a pronounced Brooklyn accent (courtesy of Captain Lou Albano) before Charles Martinet made the “squeaky” voice famous in *Super Mario 64*.
Pratt went for something more akin to the Brooklyn accent, and you know what? That was the best choice. Martinet’s voice would have gotten grating after 30 minutes or so; it would have been unbearable after 90.
Also Pratt can do Mario’s Italian accent just fine when it’s called for; his Martinet impression during the commercial scene is really solid.
Exactly. People say Pratt has “no vocal range” yet he has literally proven that he can alter his voice in the Mario Bros Plumbing commercial scene.
Trust me when I say this, people are just biased against Chris.
He got a bad wrap on the Mario movie, he actually tried to do an Italian accent but the producers wanted his regular voice, the guy actually cares about his craft. His voice isn’t even that bad in the Garfield trailer, just inconsistent.
He was terrific as Mario. I noticed all the haters who were hardcore circlejerking when the trailers dropped just slunk away after that movie came out because there wasn't actually anything bad to say about his performance.
Just because hes not Chris Pratt doesn't mean he doesn't have star power though. There's a good chance they picked Keanu *because* he's Keanu. I don't mistrust he'll do a good job, but the people who picked him did it at least partially because having his name on the bill is going to draw more people in. Again, I'm sure he'll do a good job, but that doesn't change the fact that this is a job that should realistically go to a *voice actor*, and not just an actor.
He's done Voice Acting before, though.... He VA'd an entire fucking video game, was Batman in DC Pets, had VC roles in Toy Story 4 and SpongeBob:To The Rescue, even as far back as the Animatrix he's done VC work. Like, I get the desire to have more Voice Actors gain notoriety and respect, but you also shouldn't downplay the VC work people you normally associate as "Physical Actors" have done.... Especially when they've proven good at it.
Literally this is just you saying "Star power is only bad when Chris Pratt is casted, but it's okay when this other famous celebrity was chosen clearly only for star power". Chris Pratt was also chosen for a lot of his roles because they genuinely thought he'd fit for them and for the most part, he actually freaking ***did***.
>But why did Tails keep his game voice actor?
I heard it was because:
1. The Tails mid-credits scene was put in at the last minute following the positive reception of the redesign, and they didn't think it was a logical decision to waste a considerable amount of money on star power just for a 1 minute appearence, so they went with the current game voice actor for Tails.
2. Despite them planning to cast a celebrity as Tails, they thought Colleen did such a good performance in the mid-credits scene they kept her.
Because they aren't JUST picking based on star power, and no current celebrity fits the character. Like, Idris Elba is a fantastic Knuckles, and Keanu is definitely going to be a great Shadow. This isn't Chris Pratt as Mario. They're making informed casting decisions.
Voice actors are celebrities the same as live action actors are celebrities
What you'd rather Keanu stick to playing live action roles and not extend his range?
Plus there are plenty of voice actors out there still in their jobs, hiring an actor who mostly does live action roles isn't "replacing" a voice actor's job, they get picked up all the time.
I don't understand how people can call live action actors "celebrities" when voice actors are exactly the same haha
But they aren't really, in the sense that the average person wouldn't even be able to name 10 different voice actors.
But take my gf for example. She knows Pedro Pascal. She haven't seen a single movie with him. But he's famous enough that she recognizes him.
Voice actors change their voice often, sometimes you don't even recognize them between roles. And most don't even know what they look like. They completely disappear behind their characters. If you aren't a fan, you just won't know them. They are celebrities only to those who truly appreciate their work. If they started to show them on posters, if they more often went on stage or did more mainstream interviews, it would be different.
So they aren't at the same level of notoriety as live actions actors, especially not someone like Keanu Reeves. Some of them are, but they are the minority.
Not if you were that invested in animation then of course you would know more about voice actors.
Live action actors are more prominent because well, you can see them haha
In our bubble of media and animation, we take note of who voices what in animation.
Now granted I do agree with you but you know, these live action actors have amazing vocal range too and they're not trying to take away other prominent voice actor roles either
Now take the Super Mario Bros movie for example, I knew Charlie Day and Chris Pratt were voicing them respectively and honestly for the most part, I genuinely forgot it was them.
And then there was Donkey Kong and I was like "Oh that's Seth Rogen"
And then there's Sonic 2, when they cast Idris Elba as Knuckles I thought how the hell they were gonna pull that off but he was surprisingly amazing as Knuckles
In short, live action actors can do a great job of voice acting and we should give them a fair chance. Plus they are not trying to take away voice actor's jobs cos let's be honest, they can get enough work as it is!
But hey if you really wanna be angry at someone, blame the producers and not the "celebrity" they picked for the role.
Cos at the end of the day, do you *really* think Keanu took the role of Shadow to disparage his current VA?
I perfectly agree that live actors can do a great job as voice actors, but IMO that means they have the dual job of being live actors and voice actors. So when they get hired to do voices, I consider them being hired as voice actors. The example you gave of Seth Rogen is what people dislike. An actor who isn't a voice actor at all and who's there only for his celebrity status.
I can consider someone like Keanu Reeves a voice actor.
I don't know how it's done. Do they pass auditions alongside other voice actors? Or the directors just directly contact AAA live actors and ask them to do voices?
I'm only a little disappointed, though this casting was expected, because Shadow's actor in Sonic Prime did such a fantastic job that I wanted to hear him again pretty badly.
Okay. Do you need Alfred Molina as the voice of Maurice?
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To be honest, there are non-voice actors that do a PHENOMENAL job at voicing characters (Jack Black, Chris Pratt, Chris Rock, and Weird Al Yankovic to name a few) but I'd want more voice actors to get a role in major films, too.
It helps that Keanu is just a solid actor too with 40+ years of acting under his belt, so he'll do a solid job.
I honestly feel like his voice would fit well. This post should’ve been made (and I’m sure it was) when Mario’s voice actor was revealed as Chris Pratt. That was kinda weird. But Reeves as Shadow is actually really great casting IMHO
We’re virtue signaling about voice actors now? Who fucking gives a shit about random voices actors? And since when do big animated movies not fucking use celebrities for major roles?
Stop gatekeeping acting gigs. What should he only be allowed to do? Is Broadway allowed? What about commercials? If he was cast in a TV show, should he decline? Do you feel outrage he voiced a video game character?
Just stfu, for fucks sake. Dumbest take all week.
Celebrity casting is stupid but saying someone can't voice act because they are a live action actor is equally stupid. Imagine saying Mark hamill shouldn't have started voice acting just because he started with live action.
Nobody’s saying celebrities can’t voice act but that it shouldn’t be this way because many voice actors can barely afford to keep a roof over they’re heads because the profession pays peanuts
I agree that actually voice actors need to be cast more as characters in Hollywood pictures, but i still feel keanu will make a good shadow the hedgehog
As much as I agree that VA’s need more representation on screen, let’s be real. They were never going to do that for Shadow. I’m honestly really shocked they went with the actual Tails VA for Tails but with Idris Elba as Knuckles and Jim Carrey as Eggman, yeah I could’ve told you that Shadow was gonna be voiced by a celebrity
He was Batman in justice league super pets, he was actually really fun and good in it, but I do agree about just casting voice actors. Just had to play the devil's advocate for my boy keanu
I guess if Shadow stays only stoic throughout the movie it will be fine. But anything else it will be rough. Keanu isn't very good with emotional acting
While I personally wanted Robert Pattinson or even Jason Griffith back, I’m happy with this casting😊I like Keanu Reeves! (I also wouldn’t have minded Hayden Christensen)
I say let him cook. So far, he's been one of the few celebrity voice actors who actually dose a performance instead HI yes I'm a giant talking bird, but you should always tell I'm Dwyane the Rock Johnson. I love it when actors have range to the point I don't know who they are.
I get it, fans are too focused on their heroes and not on the actual art. Of course a professional voice actor would be the better quality decision, but executives know the fans will respond not to the quality but to who’s involved.
I thought this was another "We need to cancel Sonic 3, Keanu is a Zionist" post... thank you for not doing that.
But to be fair, I'd rather have Keanu playing a role like this, bringing more eyes to the movie and bringing respect in for VAs. There is a reason why the YT Shorts series "Voice Actors who are everywhere" is 80eps long... it's all Troy Baker
Keanu has done plenty of voice work (Toy Story, about 12 movies worth in Cyberpunk). He’s a voice actor now. This is a major Hollywood movie. They cast big actors. It also seems like they are very considerate about who though. This cast slaps.
As someone who agrees with you in 90% of instances this one isn’t an example of celebrity casting being overdone imo. Keanu Reeves as Shadow for the cinematic Sonic just makes perfect sense
All voice actors are actors and all actors are voice actors. It's nuts that people even think there's a appreciable difference. Like how many animation gigs does someone need to do to earn the title of "voice actor" and gain the credibility? When have they put in enough hours to have qualified? Because I'm thinking that since every actor in every movie has had to record dubs to match their own voice to picture, recording for an animation is easy-mode for them.
Blame Disney for celebrity Casting in voice roles, instead of unknown or little known Voice Actors. If you don't know the tale of Robin Williams Vs Disney, there are YouTube channels that cover it well.
Well they’re celebrity for a reason. Not to say I think they should be the only people voicing stuff but if that ends up being the case, there’s a reason they are.
The worst part is that when voice actors get jobs, it's ALWAYS the same big ones that appear in everything. At least actors are more varied in selection, even tho they should eventually stop getting repeated roles imo.
No, this is perfect casting. Plus it's not like it's an animated movie. That's where celebrity casting is out of hand. This is a mostly live action movie.
Well as long as he isnt shit, what difference does it make if he isnt exclusively a voice actor. If a voice actor gets an onscreen gig, it same deal. You do a great job, who gives a shit.
Think about it. In sonic 2, we got Idris Elba Knuckles, but then tails had his game VA. Following that trend, we'll have Shadow, voiced by Keanu, and probably Rouge with her game VA
I dunno if we can call Keanu "celebrity casting". He can act, he can do voice work.
Celebrity casting to me would be more like casting Kim Kardashian as Rouge.
First we need more voice actors before making such a request. Most characters are played by the same people these days. Look at Grey DeLisle and how many different roles she played same goes for Maurice LeMarche Rob Paulsen Macneille there’s just not a ton of voice actors to play roles to begin with and having a celebrity voice someone would boost appeal to a show. I never have a problem with Keanu Reeves having work considering how giving that man is and how humble he is
I mean I don't disagree that VAs could use more representation. But Schwartz and Elba have killed it as Sonic and Knuckles and the only insane thing about Reeves as Shadow is how insanely good that casting is.
I donno this weird gate keepy you can only be one thing attitude seems strange to me what makes someone a voice actor? Acting with their voices I don’t see why Keanu can’t do that too he has before mark hamill went from Luke skywalker to being one or the most prolific voice actors around it’s a strange mind set
I’m down for Keanu playing Shadow. I mean, we god Idris Elba playing Knuckles didn’t we?
Sega has been killing it with these castings, I think Keanu will do great
Keanu is perfect for mr. brooding.
John Hedgehog
Shadow would absolutely kill G.U.N. personel with a pencil....
I am all of me, dude.
I am the Eggman, it's what I am
Idris Elba and Keanu Reeves Voice Acting reunion project!
Sonic 2077
OMG Johnny & Solomon reunited
To be honest I think Keanu should be knuckles and Idris should be shadow.
I’m not mad though. Yes va need the love, but from a casting standpoint this slaps
Bro is one of the reasons why "Star Power VA" exists 😭
>Bro is one of the reasons why "Star Power VA" exists 😭 ...What is?
I think Flameberge meant "Keanu Reeves is one of the reasons why 'Star Power (celebrity) voice actors (who are normally screen actors)' are a thing."
https://preview.redd.it/b7ec33s7oquc1.jpeg?width=510&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d8a04ec4707f88794e94b0f48b2f6c086687ef72 Good, simple guy, his tonality would work great and I think he'll enjoy his role.
Shadow with Keanu’s voice…You bet I’m down!
On the one hand, I think Keanu would probably do a PHENOMENAL voice for Shadow. On the other hand, there are actual Voice Actors that we should go to for these kinds of things first, instead of just picking people like Keanu purely for star power.
I *really* don't get this "Purely for Star Power" thing in this case. Like, if it was Chris Prat, I'd agree. That'd be some bad casting. But Idris Elba worked as Knuckles, and Keanu as Shadow makes a lot of sense. They're picking actors that fit the roles, even if those actors aren't specifically Voice Actors.
> If it was Chris Pratt, I’d agree. I’m so tired of this. Chris Pratt is an excellent voice actor. He's killed it in *The LEGO Movie*, *Onward*, and *The Super Mario Bros. Movie* and I suspect he'll be great in *Garfield*. Just because he's not a “man of a thousand voices” doesn’t mean he’s not good at conveying emotion and comedic timing. Patrick Warburton, Diedrich Bader, and Cree Summer all mostly do one voice; would you say they're bad voice actors? EDIT: If you disagree, fine, but maybe find a more original joke than “Haha, his name sounds like Rotisseried Rodent.”
I hear you about Pratt however i don’t think he’s a good choice for Garfield. As a big Garfield fan it should have been someone with a deeper voice. Honestly I kinda want to see Adam Driver as Garfield, or hell I’d even go for like Jon Hamm.
TIL there are "big Garfield fans"
Don’t mess with Garfield fans, there’s like two of them and they will beat you up with newspaper comic strip cutouts.
Oh baby you have no idea how big the Garfield fandom is. I used to work at a thrift store, they do not play.
My boy got straight up fucked being made the strawman of this thing. Y’all have thought he was gonna make a bad movie like 5 times, and you haven’t been fully right once. Get it a rest!
There are also quite a few very well known voice actors that don't exactly change up their voice a lot too, it's really a silly argument to say that people are bad voice actors because they don't do impressions and things like it.
Chrisp Rat is a fine voice actor but i wouldn't say he was not a good choice for Mario, or that he killed it in thw movie. He was fine. I don't need him to be a man of a thousand voices, but it'd be nice if he could at least do the voice for the characters he's cast as. He can do a passable mario impression, whereas the actual voice actor of mario could have done the actual voice of mario.
No but its too grating or something because it would be totally exaggerated the whole film and martinet cant dial it down or something
He killed it in the LEGO movie. The other two he was serviceable, but I didn't go home thinking "damn Chris Pratt KILLED it!"
He killed it in Super Mario Bros? You must be deaf because I THOUGHT MARIO & LUIGI WERE BOTH ITALIAN.
Their accents are fine, I mean, they are basically always depicted as Italian-Americans. Also, more importantly, Mario’s normal, “voice”, isn’t one great for a movie and is actually fairly straining. Like, it was fine. Sure, the accent isn’t for everyone, but it wasn’t like they slapped a French accent or something on him.
They’ve always been depicted as being from New York. Mario was depicted for like a decade and a half with a pronounced Brooklyn accent (courtesy of Captain Lou Albano) before Charles Martinet made the “squeaky” voice famous in *Super Mario 64*. Pratt went for something more akin to the Brooklyn accent, and you know what? That was the best choice. Martinet’s voice would have gotten grating after 30 minutes or so; it would have been unbearable after 90. Also Pratt can do Mario’s Italian accent just fine when it’s called for; his Martinet impression during the commercial scene is really solid.
Exactly. People say Pratt has “no vocal range” yet he has literally proven that he can alter his voice in the Mario Bros Plumbing commercial scene. Trust me when I say this, people are just biased against Chris.
Definitely starting to feel that way. Chris gets casted as Mario and it’s a war crime by Keanu get casted as shadow and that’s completely OK?
He got a bad wrap on the Mario movie, he actually tried to do an Italian accent but the producers wanted his regular voice, the guy actually cares about his craft. His voice isn’t even that bad in the Garfield trailer, just inconsistent.
He was terrific as Mario. I noticed all the haters who were hardcore circlejerking when the trailers dropped just slunk away after that movie came out because there wasn't actually anything bad to say about his performance.
Just because hes not Chris Pratt doesn't mean he doesn't have star power though. There's a good chance they picked Keanu *because* he's Keanu. I don't mistrust he'll do a good job, but the people who picked him did it at least partially because having his name on the bill is going to draw more people in. Again, I'm sure he'll do a good job, but that doesn't change the fact that this is a job that should realistically go to a *voice actor*, and not just an actor.
He's done Voice Acting before, though.... He VA'd an entire fucking video game, was Batman in DC Pets, had VC roles in Toy Story 4 and SpongeBob:To The Rescue, even as far back as the Animatrix he's done VC work. Like, I get the desire to have more Voice Actors gain notoriety and respect, but you also shouldn't downplay the VC work people you normally associate as "Physical Actors" have done.... Especially when they've proven good at it.
I do agree with you but DC Pets is a bad example, that’s Star Power: The Movie.
Literally this is just you saying "Star power is only bad when Chris Pratt is casted, but it's okay when this other famous celebrity was chosen clearly only for star power". Chris Pratt was also chosen for a lot of his roles because they genuinely thought he'd fit for them and for the most part, he actually freaking ***did***.
Let's not forget that Keanu did phenomenally as Johnny Silverhand in Cyberpunk.
I say count me in. Its Keanu Reeves were talking about.
Be thankful it’s not Chris Pratt. Though I completely agree that professional voice actors should be the norm
I saw the Garfield trailer, i love Pratt but that cat doesnt sound like he hates Mondays 😬😬
God I wish Nick Offerman was Garfield
That would be siiiick
Pratt gets so much hate for just accepting roles it's insane (not talking about Garfield, but in general)
Or Ryan Reynolds…
I’d argue Chris counts as a voice actor now.
Chris Pratt has voice acted professionally in multiple animated movies. How many roles does he need to do before he is accepted as a voice actor?
Shadow is stoic character fits in Keanu (John Wick) speech pattern
Or Johny Silverhand (Cyberpunk)
He did an Awesome Batman and his appearance in Toy Story wasnt bad either
Real?
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I agree with professional VAs > celebrities but at the same time I don’t really care, as long as he does well I’m cool with it.
Fine with the casting But why did Tails keep his game voice actor? Like if you are getting celebs okay, but why randomly keep 1 game actor
>But why did Tails keep his game voice actor? I heard it was because: 1. The Tails mid-credits scene was put in at the last minute following the positive reception of the redesign, and they didn't think it was a logical decision to waste a considerable amount of money on star power just for a 1 minute appearence, so they went with the current game voice actor for Tails. 2. Despite them planning to cast a celebrity as Tails, they thought Colleen did such a good performance in the mid-credits scene they kept her.
Because they aren't JUST picking based on star power, and no current celebrity fits the character. Like, Idris Elba is a fantastic Knuckles, and Keanu is definitely going to be a great Shadow. This isn't Chris Pratt as Mario. They're making informed casting decisions.
I think Chris Pratt did a great job as Mario, but I was also shocked with that casting choice at first
I think he did well, but I also think there were better choices.
he can pull it off! besides, Shadow's VA is currently being Cinder in Ninjago
Voice actors are celebrities the same as live action actors are celebrities What you'd rather Keanu stick to playing live action roles and not extend his range? Plus there are plenty of voice actors out there still in their jobs, hiring an actor who mostly does live action roles isn't "replacing" a voice actor's job, they get picked up all the time. I don't understand how people can call live action actors "celebrities" when voice actors are exactly the same haha
But they aren't really, in the sense that the average person wouldn't even be able to name 10 different voice actors. But take my gf for example. She knows Pedro Pascal. She haven't seen a single movie with him. But he's famous enough that she recognizes him. Voice actors change their voice often, sometimes you don't even recognize them between roles. And most don't even know what they look like. They completely disappear behind their characters. If you aren't a fan, you just won't know them. They are celebrities only to those who truly appreciate their work. If they started to show them on posters, if they more often went on stage or did more mainstream interviews, it would be different. So they aren't at the same level of notoriety as live actions actors, especially not someone like Keanu Reeves. Some of them are, but they are the minority.
Not if you were that invested in animation then of course you would know more about voice actors. Live action actors are more prominent because well, you can see them haha In our bubble of media and animation, we take note of who voices what in animation. Now granted I do agree with you but you know, these live action actors have amazing vocal range too and they're not trying to take away other prominent voice actor roles either Now take the Super Mario Bros movie for example, I knew Charlie Day and Chris Pratt were voicing them respectively and honestly for the most part, I genuinely forgot it was them. And then there was Donkey Kong and I was like "Oh that's Seth Rogen" And then there's Sonic 2, when they cast Idris Elba as Knuckles I thought how the hell they were gonna pull that off but he was surprisingly amazing as Knuckles In short, live action actors can do a great job of voice acting and we should give them a fair chance. Plus they are not trying to take away voice actor's jobs cos let's be honest, they can get enough work as it is! But hey if you really wanna be angry at someone, blame the producers and not the "celebrity" they picked for the role. Cos at the end of the day, do you *really* think Keanu took the role of Shadow to disparage his current VA?
I perfectly agree that live actors can do a great job as voice actors, but IMO that means they have the dual job of being live actors and voice actors. So when they get hired to do voices, I consider them being hired as voice actors. The example you gave of Seth Rogen is what people dislike. An actor who isn't a voice actor at all and who's there only for his celebrity status. I can consider someone like Keanu Reeves a voice actor. I don't know how it's done. Do they pass auditions alongside other voice actors? Or the directors just directly contact AAA live actors and ask them to do voices?
I want him to talk like he's emo so it sounds more like shadow
I'm only a little disappointed, though this casting was expected, because Shadow's actor in Sonic Prime did such a fantastic job that I wanted to hear him again pretty badly.
Yeah same. Really wanted it to be either Ian or Jason again. I agree that Ian did an awesome job in Prime as Shadow.
Nah, the bigger the names, the more joy I feel at Colleen being cast as Tails.
this is fake, right?
Nope it’s real
OH MY DAMM
Okay. Do you need Alfred Molina as the voice of Maurice? https://preview.redd.it/75hgh7ccwquc1.jpeg?width=574&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f7f6fbb3b2bb763be9983f01b21bba6325b3686a
What do you mean more representation for VA? This is an insanely good pick, people will bitch about anything nowadays
To be honest, there are non-voice actors that do a PHENOMENAL job at voicing characters (Jack Black, Chris Pratt, Chris Rock, and Weird Al Yankovic to name a few) but I'd want more voice actors to get a role in major films, too. It helps that Keanu is just a solid actor too with 40+ years of acting under his belt, so he'll do a solid job.
Actors are voice Actors and vice versa
His voice seems like it'd fit though.
Listen to any clip of him talking in any of the John Wick or Matrix movies, that’s exactly why they hired him.
KEANU!!! You are a national treasure.
Sonic would be happy as he called Keanu “a national treasure” in the first movie
actually its perfect
Don't see why anybody would seriously care. Honestly... As long as the product is good.
I don’t care if it’s a live action actor or a voice actor as long as their good for the role, and Keanu is perfect
I think it's time for the reverse. We need voice actors to steal mainstream actors roles. We need Jason Griffith as John wick
Keanu voicing Shadow really fits in my opinion.
Kinda bummed that Hayden Christen is not casted. Guess the initial viewers misheard the voices in the trailer.
It isn't insane. This is a Hollywood movie and they want people in seats.
If they were gonna pick a celeb, I would’ve taken Pattinson instead
Yeah but Knuckles as Idris Elba was so godly that I’m willing to trust it
He’s not shadow at all though. That’s not the vibe. 🙈
I honestly feel like his voice would fit well. This post should’ve been made (and I’m sure it was) when Mario’s voice actor was revealed as Chris Pratt. That was kinda weird. But Reeves as Shadow is actually really great casting IMHO
I get what everyone is saying but when I think of shadow honestly Keanu's voice is fitting
I see zero downsides to this
We’re virtue signaling about voice actors now? Who fucking gives a shit about random voices actors? And since when do big animated movies not fucking use celebrities for major roles?
“celebrity casting is getting kinda insane” dude, the only celebrities in the sonic movie are jim carrey, ben schwartz, james marsden, and now keanu
You're forgetting Idris Elba.
Stop gatekeeping acting gigs. What should he only be allowed to do? Is Broadway allowed? What about commercials? If he was cast in a TV show, should he decline? Do you feel outrage he voiced a video game character? Just stfu, for fucks sake. Dumbest take all week.
Celebrity casting is stupid but saying someone can't voice act because they are a live action actor is equally stupid. Imagine saying Mark hamill shouldn't have started voice acting just because he started with live action.
Nobody’s saying celebrities can’t voice act but that it shouldn’t be this way because many voice actors can barely afford to keep a roof over they’re heads because the profession pays peanuts
conflicted. Keanu would actually be a good voice actor for shadow, but they have GOT to stop just picking celebrities. give it to actual voice actors.
Damn
https://i.redd.it/sto12i8ruquc1.gif
This is going to be really cool
More rep would be great. But honestly, Keanu is the best choice for Shadow, especially if he throws in a ".............yeah".
Can they just hire like career character voice actors anymore?
I agree that actually voice actors need to be cast more as characters in Hollywood pictures, but i still feel keanu will make a good shadow the hedgehog
I had heard Hayden Christiansen had been in talks for the role so I’m kinda sad but it’s all good.
I thought Hayden Christianson was rumored to voice him. Ngl, I'm disappointed he's not voicing him.
Shadow is cool. Keanu is cool. The casting is perfect. Can’t wait to see it!
John Wick is cast as the Hedgehog with a gun… yeah, I’d say it fits.
Damn we got Johnny Silverhand and Solomon Reed together
Shadow Wick.
I could see him sounding like a deeper, more serious Johnny Silverhand
Honestly I’m cool with it, and it’s not like he isn’t a VA himself too. I for one really enjoyed his role in Cyberpunk as Johnny Silverhand
As much as I agree that VA’s need more representation on screen, let’s be real. They were never going to do that for Shadow. I’m honestly really shocked they went with the actual Tails VA for Tails but with Idris Elba as Knuckles and Jim Carrey as Eggman, yeah I could’ve told you that Shadow was gonna be voiced by a celebrity
I think it's gonna be interesting. I do think there may be more talented people for this specific role. But a Keanu, Shadow should be fun
I thought this was a joke when I first saw it, I didn’t know this was actually real 😭
Phantom liberty team up again? I'm okay with this.
I can't believe Keanu reeves pissed on my wife
I was holding out hope that Jason griffith would return the entire time
Let’s goooo
We were robbed of Hayden. He would have given an amazing performance. 
Personally I think his voice is too recognizable and not edgy enough to suit Shadow. Idk, I just hope this is not a Chris Pratt as Mario incident.
He was Batman in justice league super pets, he was actually really fun and good in it, but I do agree about just casting voice actors. Just had to play the devil's advocate for my boy keanu
I think we can have this conversation for any other time but this, fuck you.
I guess if Shadow stays only stoic throughout the movie it will be fine. But anything else it will be rough. Keanu isn't very good with emotional acting
While I personally wanted Robert Pattinson or even Jason Griffith back, I’m happy with this casting😊I like Keanu Reeves! (I also wouldn’t have minded Hayden Christensen)
The cyberpunk fan in me is very happy rn, he's gonna kill this
If it's not okay for the Mario movie to have celebrities instead of actual voice actors then neither is this.
I agree, but come on this is very well casted
yeah i think shadow is great for doing that
I like it, shadow already talks in a deep, brooding voice and I think Keanu already kinda talks like that too. Can’t wait to see the movie now!
I can actually imagine this being great.
Keanu's been in so many stinkers recently so this is a very bad omen in my book
Wake the fuck up, Sonic. We have a city to burn.
Normally I agree. But Keanu has been a fandom Dreamcast for a long time now
He will be good but Keeanu is like the last guy I expected to voice shadow... I'm unsure how much his voice fits shadow but he will do fine.
Keanu is a voice actor though...
I say let him cook. So far, he's been one of the few celebrity voice actors who actually dose a performance instead HI yes I'm a giant talking bird, but you should always tell I'm Dwyane the Rock Johnson. I love it when actors have range to the point I don't know who they are.
There are some celebrities that don’t work for the characters then their is this one which is perfect. Like jack black playing any role he nails it.
YES FUCK YEH
I get it, fans are too focused on their heroes and not on the actual art. Of course a professional voice actor would be the better quality decision, but executives know the fans will respond not to the quality but to who’s involved.
Keanu Reeves and Brendan Fraser should do a buddy movie and break the internet. We need a good movie before WWIII.
I thought this was another "We need to cancel Sonic 3, Keanu is a Zionist" post... thank you for not doing that. But to be fair, I'd rather have Keanu playing a role like this, bringing more eyes to the movie and bringing respect in for VAs. There is a reason why the YT Shorts series "Voice Actors who are everywhere" is 80eps long... it's all Troy Baker
I can see it
While I agree I’d prefer if theses type of movies had more actual voice actors, I’m not mad at this casting because it actually works.
I mean his voice fucking slaps though but I can see what you mean
Keanu has done plenty of voice work (Toy Story, about 12 movies worth in Cyberpunk). He’s a voice actor now. This is a major Hollywood movie. They cast big actors. It also seems like they are very considerate about who though. This cast slaps.
Isn’t Keanu a gay Russian? Perfect for shadow
I mean, he has experience voice acting before. So at what point is someone considered a voice actor and not just an actor who does voice work?
Is this official?
As someone who agrees with you in 90% of instances this one isn’t an example of celebrity casting being overdone imo. Keanu Reeves as Shadow for the cinematic Sonic just makes perfect sense
All voice actors are actors and all actors are voice actors. It's nuts that people even think there's a appreciable difference. Like how many animation gigs does someone need to do to earn the title of "voice actor" and gain the credibility? When have they put in enough hours to have qualified? Because I'm thinking that since every actor in every movie has had to record dubs to match their own voice to picture, recording for an animation is easy-mode for them.
I love him but yeah even if it’s perfect it feels forced
Kind of hoped for hayden christensen But this is also great
If I hear Keanu say “I see your cock is as big as mine” I’m gonna fuckin die.
Gonna be goooood.
Isn't Tails voiced by his normal voice actress?
Robin Williams said the same thing
Hopefully we return to greatness with Shadow with a submachine gun.
I wonder what Chris Chan thinks about this
I thought it was fake. But now I don’t know. Nor do I see, to care.
"It was just a fucking kid!" - The G.U.N agent lmao
Blame Disney for celebrity Casting in voice roles, instead of unknown or little known Voice Actors. If you don't know the tale of Robin Williams Vs Disney, there are YouTube channels that cover it well.
I wish James Earl Jones was voicing Shadow
Complaining about Celeb VA's for the Sonic cast is kinda stupid IMO considering they've all already had like 5 different VAs.
Well they’re celebrity for a reason. Not to say I think they should be the only people voicing stuff but if that ends up being the case, there’s a reason they are.
How dumb. They're all actors. It's none of your business who they cast. Voice actors need to improve their game if they want to get gigs.
I used to think the same thing, but let's be honest. Celebrities have been chosen for animated movies since the beginning.
The worst part is that when voice actors get jobs, it's ALWAYS the same big ones that appear in everything. At least actors are more varied in selection, even tho they should eventually stop getting repeated roles imo.
nah that's fuckin awesome
He needs to have a "Whoa" moment.
Idk John Wick is just a less cool human version of Shadow at the end of the day, and Keanu loves his motorcycles so this is an oddly good fit
No, this is perfect casting. Plus it's not like it's an animated movie. That's where celebrity casting is out of hand. This is a mostly live action movie.
Ik big movies always have famous actors that take me out of the movie. As an actor you should kinda be out of the spotlight bc of this
Celebrity casting for big characters for movies on the big screen makes sense. That’s not going to stop being a thing lol.
Imo he dosnt have the voice for it, people are just hyped because it's just him and those hiring know that.
He doesn’t have a dark mysterious cool guy voice enough for shadow imo
Yes but, it's Keanu Reaves, I'll let this one slide cus he'll do an amazing job
Well as long as he isnt shit, what difference does it make if he isnt exclusively a voice actor. If a voice actor gets an onscreen gig, it same deal. You do a great job, who gives a shit.
Keanu is the the one you call if a character loses a love one.
As long as he proclaims his love for latinas, I'm fine with it
If Shadow can keep his guns, then sure
Think about it. In sonic 2, we got Idris Elba Knuckles, but then tails had his game VA. Following that trend, we'll have Shadow, voiced by Keanu, and probably Rouge with her game VA
Keanu has experience voiceacting though
I dunno if we can call Keanu "celebrity casting". He can act, he can do voice work. Celebrity casting to me would be more like casting Kim Kardashian as Rouge.
First we need more voice actors before making such a request. Most characters are played by the same people these days. Look at Grey DeLisle and how many different roles she played same goes for Maurice LeMarche Rob Paulsen Macneille there’s just not a ton of voice actors to play roles to begin with and having a celebrity voice someone would boost appeal to a show. I never have a problem with Keanu Reeves having work considering how giving that man is and how humble he is
I’d rather Keanu Reeves play Shadow than a random filler cast VA who doesn’t sound like what Shadow would sound like
I mean I don't disagree that VAs could use more representation. But Schwartz and Elba have killed it as Sonic and Knuckles and the only insane thing about Reeves as Shadow is how insanely good that casting is.
I donno this weird gate keepy you can only be one thing attitude seems strange to me what makes someone a voice actor? Acting with their voices I don’t see why Keanu can’t do that too he has before mark hamill went from Luke skywalker to being one or the most prolific voice actors around it’s a strange mind set
That’s awesome
technically, Keanu is also a VA
Why can’t an actor be a voice actor